Burning of Big Tex at State Fair has to be an omen for Mack Brown

Posted by Ben Kercheval on October 19, 2012, 1:00 PM EST

AP

Earlier this week, Barking Carnival wrote a lengthy, yet well-constructed piece opining that it was time for Mack Brown to step aside at Texas after getting pistol whipped by Oklahoma 63-21 in the Red River Shootout.

Since I’m not nearly as effective with subject-verb agreements or general wordsmith matters — I like books to have lots of pictures, for what it’s worth — I look for simpler ways to express my feelings. As it pertains to Brown’s job security, the burning of a beloved State Fair of Texas icon will do nicely.

Exactly what caused the fire isn’t known yet. You could say that when you’re surrounded by that many deep fryers, a grease fire is bound to happen sooner or later. Me? I don’t deal in the logical or explainable. Clearly the untimely demise of Big Tex is an omen that Brown’s days at Texas are coming to an end.

Mac Brown is good man who was a very good coach and recruiter. I hope that he doesn’t do to his legacy what Paterno and others who were equally important to their schools did to their legacies: over stay to the point of irretrievably damaging his reputation. Bowden was forced out, but that seems to have been the best solution for all, even for Bowden ‘tho he won’t admit it. How long do you give someone like Brown to right the ship? He deserves the chance to fix it, but it’s been 3 years now. Do you give him one more year, two more? I don’t have the answers, but i wish him the very best. In my state he would have been ousted after the first losing year; sad, but true.

Gary Patterson. Jon Gruden. Whoever they want really. UT is still the best job in America. Lotta resources, strong fan base. Recruiting is never an issue. Coaching has been for the last few years. We said the same things about Mack prior to VY. Vince bought him a decade and stopped people from saying he couldn’t beat stoops. Then Colt maintained a level of success that kept Mack alive. His 1st mistake was not having Garrett Gilbert ready against Bama. Things have been downhill from there. But a serious culture change is necessary. We were absolutely soft against OU. And I love UT and our coaches and players dearly but the players are coddled and its evident in their play, especially once they get to the league.

Agree with Idfontenot. WVU threw out Bowden before he was summarily dismissed from FSU. I suppose that is what we are getting now in all sports. Win or you’re gone. My Browns threw out Bellichick and he goes on to establish a dynasty. The Steelers threw out Bill Austin before hiring Chuck Noll. Alabama threw out Mike Shula before hiring Saban. Brian Kelly replaced Charlie Weiss who replaced Tyrone Willingham who replaced George O’Leary who replaced Bob Davie who replace Lou Holtz. Huh??

What hurts the older coaches is the mass media especially the Mothership. They largely determine the merit and the time of dismissal for the older guys who seem to have lost the “magic”. Now its the “young guns” with their wide open offenses or the “trick” defenses that seem to be the hot ticket.
Being an older guy myself and perhaps somewhat paranoid I would ask you to look at how the media starts covering guys on the hot seat. First they cite the decline in the number of wins, then they focus on unflattering photos especially those with white hair and lots of wrinkles. Then they look for photos right after an agonizing loss. The pattern is always the same. They will then start asking if the coach is thinking about coming back the following year. You certainly have seen this pattern.

So let’s assume that Brown is the next victim. Is the administration and the fanbase going to allow him to go out with “dignity” or will they summarily dismiss him?? At least with Bowden he had a “coach in waiting” with Fisher. My Mountaineers tried that with Stewart and Holgorsen and that turned out to be quite the disaster. So what say you? Is there ever a “humane” way to do this??

@ deb…the fire was not intentional. Big Tex burned fron the top down (literally.) The fire started in the neck and jaw area, where workers had been doing some maintenance earlier this week. He’ll be back, good as new next year. The state fair ends on Sunday, so no huge loss this year.

Deb says:Oct 19, 2012 4:13 PM

@gorilladunk …

Oh, thanks. They show a clip of him in some old movie I was watching not long ago, but can’t remember what it was. He’s a real fixture there. Glad he’ll be back.

imaduffer says:Oct 19, 2012 4:35 PM

@deb,

I believe it was called, get ready, “State Fair.”

Deb says:Oct 19, 2012 5:27 PM

@imaduffer …

LOL … Big Tex was in “State Fair,” of course, but I haven’t seen that film in years. It’s going to drive me nuts trying to figure where I saw him just recently. He’s made a number of cameos.

vols84 says:Oct 19, 2012 5:29 PM

Art Briles would be a good coach. Could see Texas speaking with Saban and offering a record deal.

Patterson would make the best sense. TCU was fine for making your bones as a mid major. Does Patterson really think that Texas is going to let him develop a national program in their backyard?

Why do you think Texas invited TCU to the Big 12? Deloss wasn’t about to let TCU go east and secure an
AQ bid in the Big East year after year and establish a national program in prime recruiting territory.

No, TCU was invited to the Big 12 to be a proverbial whipping boy for Texas. The only problem is that Texas is a mere shell of what they used to be. Texas is now the fifth best football program in the conference behind KSU, OU, WVU, Tech/Baylor.

It galls the Longhorns to see anyone other than Texas having success in football.